Since the epidemic, HSBC said it would close 114 more branches in the United Kingdom beginning in April since the number of clients utilizing these locations has decreased dramatically.
The bank stated that it will attempt to reassign affected employees, but around one hundred will be laid off.
In recent years, many bank branches have closed due to the rise of online banking and cost-cutting measures by lenders.
HSBC stated that it would invest in modernizing its remaining 327 branches, while a union accused the bank of abandoning its consumers.
“Without corporate social responsibility requiring banks to remain in our high streets to assist the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable, access to cash and banking will be gone forever,” said Dominic Hook, a Unite national officer.
Jackie Uhi, managing director of UK distribution for HSBC, stated that customers are altering their banking habits and that foot traffic in many branches is “at an all-time low, never to recover.
Remote banking is becoming the norm for the overwhelming majority of us,” she continued.
She stated that the choice to close a branch was “never simple or made lightly,” especially if it was the last one in a certain area.
She said that HSBC was investing in “post-closure” solutions, such as giving complimentary tablet devices to assist some branch customers in banking digitally.
Even while branch closures are unavoidable, the rate at which they are occurring will be the reason for alarm.
Each year, several branches are severed. This is a much faster rate than possible substitutes can be opened to aid those left struggling.
Only two so-called shared banking hubs have thus far opened their doors in the United Kingdom’s 27 designated districts.
They permit local companies and vulnerable residents who are customers of any bank to make deposits and withdrawals of cash.
Charities and consumer groups are requesting a quickening of the project, despite its widespread approval and support.
HSBC announced in March that it planned to close 69 branches by the fall of this year.
It was reported that foot traffic in three-quarters of the branches slated for closure had decreased by fifty percent over the preceding five years, a trend that has accelerated since the outbreak.
It was also stated that some HSBC branches handle fewer than 250 customers per week, while more than nine out of ten bank transactions are being completed digitally.
According to consumer advocacy organization Which?, more than 5,200 High Street banks and building societies have closed since 2015 due to the transition to online banking. These are:
Natwest, the owner of RBS and Ulster Bank, has shuttered more than 1,200 branches.
Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has shuttered over 850 branches and plans to close over 70 more in 2023.
More than 960 Barclays branches have been closed, making it the bank that has contracted the most.
It has rendered certain towns inaccessible to bank branches, and many cash machines have also closed.
The elderly, individuals without internet access, and small enterprises that bank in cash have been disproportionately affected.
Tobias Gruber, chief executive officer of loan broker My Community Finance, suggested that banks use the money they save by eliminating branches to enhance internet and telephone banking.
“It is unacceptable for bank clients to have to wait up to 30 minutes to speak to someone over the phone when that is their only option because their local branch is closed,” he said.
While Post Offices are an option for depositing cash and checks, HSBC’s decision will leave rural clients and those unable to use internet banking “frustrated, stranded, and unable to access their money,” according to the spokesperson.
Which divisions will close?
Next year, the following HSBC branches will close:
April: Abergavenny, Alton, Bexhill-on-Sea, Blandford Forum, Bristol Downend, Cromer, Leominster, Market Bosworth, Shaftesbury, St. Austell, and St. Ives.
Arnold, Bideford, Brecon, Bridport, Brighouse, Bristol Filton, Coleraine, Didcot, Dover, Dundee, Fakenham, Gainsborough, Halesowen, Hove, Launceston, Leicester 11 Hinckley Road, Liskeard, Market Harborough, Minehead, Stamford, Stourport on Severn, Stroud, Sudbury, Whitby, Whitley Bay, Wilmslow
Beccles, Bicester, Chepstow, Frome, Hertford, Honiton, Ilkley, Knutsford, Lewes, New Milton, Oakham, Penarth, Pocklington, Pontypool, Portadown, Ross on Wye, Skipton, Sleaford, South Shields, St Neots, Stirling, Twickenham, Wadebridge, Wells.
Blackwood, Bognor Regis, Bromborough, Christchurch, Coalville, Droitwich, Gosforth, Harpenden, Horsforth, Kingswinford, Leatherhead, Long Eaton, Marlow, Norwich Mile Cross, Palmers Green, Port Talbot, Portishead, Ripley, Seaford, Southampton Park Gate, Tonbridge, Wetherby in July.
Ashton under Lyne, Bethnal Green, Bristol Westbury on Trym, Cardiff Rhyd y Penau, Chippenham, Cirencester, Colwyn Bay, Denbigh, Dorchester, Eastwood, Henley on Thames, Hornchurch, Kenilworth, Leighton Buzzard, London 122 Finchley Road, Morley, North Finchley, Ormskirk, Putney, Reigate, Ryde, Windsor, and Wymondham.
